NC Open Government

From the Wilmington StarNews (3/14/11): If information is power, it stands to reason that people armed with information have considerable power.

From the Charlotte Observer (3/13/11): Those who work for our government don't own the government. We, the people, do. The government is us. And we - not government workers, not elected officials - own information our government collects while it carries out our business.

From the Charlotte Observer (3/13/11): When the City Council meeting ended, all the council members filed into Charlotte Mayor John Belk's office. They wanted to talk in private about building a parking garage. Observer reporter Bill Arthur plunked down on the couch.

From the Charlotte Observer (3/2/11): Few things are more dangerous to a free society than government secrecy. A government that operates outside the public's watchful eye gets into all kinds of mischief, none of it with the greater public good in mind.

From the Chicago Tribune (3/9/11): A federal judge has concluded that a federal privacy act does not bar the University of Illinois from releasing information about hundreds of college applicants who appeared on an internal list of well-connected students, the basis for the Chicago Tribune's 2009 "Clout Goes to College" investigation.

Four out of five respondents in the latest Elon University Poll would support an amendment to the state constitution that would make all public business of any government body in North Carolina open and available to the public.

Elon University will be hosting a two-day Media and Politics conference on campus March 29-30 that will include sessions and workshops devoted to topics of governmental transparency, accuracy in the news and challenges journalists face when covering political stories.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue issued a proclamation declaring the week of March 13 Sunshine Week across North Carolina. Sunshine Week celebrates transparency in government and calls attention to its importance in a democracy.

From the Fayetteville Observer (2/26/11): The Fayetteville Observer has begun making available searchable online databases of public information at fayobserver.com.